Some people think video games are just a diversion, but if you ask me they show us a lot about ourselves.  Mirror of the soul, if you want to get poetic about it.  How you act in a world without consequence says a lot about your nature.

Mine is chaotic neutral, to put it in roleplaying terms.  What what means is that I act out of self-interest. I’m practical.  I like doing good things, and if given an option with the same reward at either end I would prefer to do the good thing.  However, if you offer me something like Shadowmere for killing a couple of lowlifes, I’ll take it.  The end beautifully justifies the means, and goes crazy stomping on any stupid wolves that try to chew on my leg too.  What a sweet animal.

Black & White tried to tell me I was a benevolent god.  It was true for the most part.  I preferred building cities (in the sequel, obviously) over going out with a war party.  Of course, I also enjoyed protecting my city with archer towers, and I loved to zoom in and watch the defense make pincushions out of the armies foolish enough to assault me.  But the thing about Black & White is that it tends to assume you’re good unless you do something pretty evil.  I don’t think it counts dropping animal poo in the town food supply as an evil act.  It’s certainly an amusing act, though.

There’s a game coming out later this month (beginning of next month for the Aussies) that promises to wreak havoc with my personal balance of good and evil.  Oh yes, Overlord wishes to squish the nice fuzzy bits right out of my heart.

Think of it as Pikmin meets Dungeon Keeper with the humor of Monty Python or Blackadder, and you’re well on your way to understanding, and loving, this game.

The premise: The last Overlord got smashed by some bothersome heroes, but now you’re here with your glowing eyes and your vaguely Sauronian presence, and it’s time to put some fear into the hearts of men. And sheep. And pumpkins.

The gameplay: Similar to Pikmin, you control your hordes of minions by directing their destruction with the right thumb stick.  Brown minions have the ability to, uh, be brown.  Blue minions can go in water without expiring in an untimely fashion.  Red minions get to blow things up.  You use them to terrorize the country side while you chuck fireballs and swing your sword about in an impressive manner.

Honestly, that’s about all I know.  But that’s all I need to know. Instead of choosing to be good-neutral-evil I get to choose bad-worse-evilest.  It’s sure to stretch my imagination.  I checked out the demo on Xbox Live (there is also a PC demo, available here) and I had enough fun destroying pumpkin patches and watching my minions gleefully don jack-o-lantern heads that I trust the rest to work itself out.

- jinx

P.S. - The other day Rhoulette and I sat down after a looong dry spell because we’re too lazy to do podcasts, and we did our best recap of UbiDays. Keep an eye out for a couple more interviews we got to do with developers, too. They should be coming in the next few days.

red eyes and tears no more for you my love i fear